Grays Gobbles OO.com

Grays acquisition of the South African owned oo.com.au is a move to consolidate the online business, a Grays spokesperson told SmartHouse

The purchase makes Grays Australia who already own e-retailer brands Grays Online, Grays Outlet and Grays Escape, the largest e-commerce player in OZ with over $350m in combined turnover.

It will now have access to a database of over 3 million customers.

Recent figures from NAB show Australia's Internet sales grew 19% in February, although still accounts for just 6% of all

retail sales but is set to soar in the coming years.

The two companies will keep their stand alone websites but introduce new categories and additional investment in the popular OO.com.au site.

oo.com.au is "incredibly strong" on electronics, homewares and toys while Grays is a big seller of wine, but flogs everything from pink diamonds to AV gear, often stock from companies gone into liquidation.

"We're hoping some OO customers might try some wine, and there are products on OO that we might bring over." the Grays rep said.

Business efficiencies and website enhancements will also provide customers with a better overall shopping experience.

The company will merge into one at the back end including warehousing, call centres, infrastructure, but the websites will not be rebranded.

Vendors are being contacted about the acquisition, announced today.

Rolf Krecklenberg, the current CEO who will continue to manage the business, said "I am looking forward to expanding our range, entering new categories and leveraging the Grays infrastructure so that we can offer our customers even better value. We have an exciting future ahead."

The OO warehousing and staff will relocate from their 9000 sqm Rosebery site to Grays 30,000 sqm headquarters at Sydney's Homebush over the next three to six months.

Cameron Poolman, CEO for Grays says, "the extra scale provided by this acquisition will ensure our ongoing profitability using a sustainable business model."